Ellen Michaels Presents, Inc.
Planners Pleased With Hawai'i Convention Center Debut Year
The Hawai'i Convention Center has now been in business for a year - including the 12 pre-opening events held before the official opening last June 11 - and the verdict is in: Officials are pleased, planners impressed, and Honolulu now sits more firmly on the meetings map.
Although the center registered only 21 percent occupancy during its first year of operation, officials are not disappointed.
"Based on the fact that Hawaii didn't have a convention-center history, we were surprised we did as well as we did," said Randy Tanaka, the center's director.
The Hawai'i Convention Center has now been in business for a year - including the 12 pre-opening events held before the official opening last June 11 - and the verdict is in: Officials are pleased, planners impressed, and Honolulu now sits more firmly on the meetings map.
Although the center registered only 21 percent occupancy during its first year of operation, officials are not disappointed.
"Based on the fact that Hawaii didn't have a convention-center history, we were surprised we did as well as we did," said Randy Tanaka, the center's director.
Tanaka was surprised not only at the turnout, but at booking trends. "We're seeing more meetings than trade-show bookings - we expected to get more trade shows than we have. We're also seeing clients looking at booking the center for an anniversary event, like their 25th year in business or the 50th anniversary of a particular product.
"Hawaii is a great place to meet in an anniversary year. Our center is the right size for a group to take over the entire building so they won't be sharing it with another big organization." There's also a higher ratio of meeting space to exhibition space than most facilities have - 100,000 square feet of meeting space, and 200,000 square feet of exhibit-hall floor space.
Once in Honolulu, the group was impressed with the convention center.
"It's very compact. All the meeting space is laid our one level over another. The center is also convenient to the seven hotels we used. The convention services and F & B departments have crack staffs, especially for a new facility."
Another satisfied user was Ellen Michaels Presents in San Jose, Calif. Their client, McKesson HBOC, had held its annual trade show for its vendor pharmacists in Hawaii several times, but had outgrown the destination and would not have returned but for the opening of the center.
"We thought they could never go back to Hawaii because the program had become too large," EMP said. About 2,500 pharmacists, many of whom brought their families, attended.
One of the things that most impressed the EMP team was the quality of F & B at the center. "The chefs blew us away. It was gourmet cuisine. We’ve never had such good food at a convention center before. It was as good as anything the hotels could put together," they said.
EMP also was pleased with the theme parties in Hawaii. "The first night we had a dessert reception on the tradeshow floor. We had a conch blower at the top of the escalators. Hula dancers performed in the foyer and led everyone onto the show floor. There were dessert stations and cocktail tables on the show floor, and people could view the exhibits and enjoy dessert," they said.
The final night the group had a party at Fort DeRussy called Rock N Hula with two local bands. The party was preceded by a family event at the same location from 4:00 to 6:30, during which the children could enjoy inflatable games on the beach and eat cotton candy and other favorite treats.
The only problem McKesson HBOC had was that the center's foyer and trade-show floor were too hot. Those areas are cooled by trade winds that come into the center through vents, but at the time of the show, the trade winds weren't blowing like they usually are.
Said Tanaka, "Unfortunately for McKesson HBOC, it was a no-wind week. For now, we are blowing air into the lobby for an hour and a half before a show to bring the temperature down to 62 degrees, but this is only a temporary solution. We're currently taking bids to cut new ducts into the walls to blow air into the lobby area."
